AMEMR Keynote presenters

Dr Wendy Gentleman 
Uncertainty in modelled zooplankton: what matters and what to do about it.
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Dr. Wendy C. Gentleman is an Associate Professor in Engineering Mathematics, with a cross-appointment in Oceanography, at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS, Canada.
 
Her interests relate to zooplankton ecology in the context of changing environments and human activities. Recent research includes investigations of larval connectivity of commercial, invasive, and threatened marine species, as well as quantifying zooplankton-mediated contributions to the biological carbon pump.
 
Her expertise lies in the development and application of mechanistic models, and using "What if...?" model experiments to assess uncertainty. She has also branched into the application of network theory to map the spatial distribution of connected subpopulations. She thoroughly enjoys working with biologists and ecologists, and using models to inform future experiments and observational studies. She is passionate about training the next generation of ecosystem modelers and bringing together people of diverse backgrounds to learn the art and science of modeling.
Professor Kevin Flynn
Next generation plankton models; meeting the digital-twin challenge.

Kevin J Flynn is a marine biologist by BSc, an algal physiologist by PhD, and now primarily a simulation modeller of plankton ecophysiology and trophic dynamics at Plymouth Marine Laboratory. His work exploits 30+ years of experimental work and knowledge across a wide range of plankton types. The models, describing variable stoichiometry, allometry and various facets of behaviour and physiology, include descriptions of viruses, bacteria, phytoplankton, mixoplankton, protist and metazoan zooplankton. These have been deployed in various settings ranging from commercial biomass production through to 3D oceanographic.

Recent work has concentrated on developing plankton digital twins, as tools to merge up-to-date empirical understanding with simulators, providing next-generation models. These constructs have a novel core structure in keeping with the (de)repression functionality of real organisms, offering scope to engage with data from ‘omics, and enable an enhanced capability to match empirical expectations for biodiversity-capable models.
Dr Karen Wild-Allen
Digital twin simulations support resource management decisions in a complex coastal ecosystem with salmon aquaculture.

Karen is an internationally recognised oceanographer, biogeochemical modeller and established leader of complex, multi-disciplinary research projects that deliver scientific information and management solutions to marine industries, State and Federal governments. She contributes research vision and strategy and leads the CSIRO Coastal Environmental Biogeochemical Modelling Team, the CSIRO Aquaculture Research Domain and the Integrated Marine Observing System Tasmanian Node. Karen is passionate about multiscale model validation and advocates for the deployment of advanced technologies for fine spatial and temporal observation of biogeochemical properties including systems for autonomous nutrient analysis.

Karen is an international authority on the environmental impacts of salmon farming and has applied models to quantify and characterise the environmental impacts of anthropogenic nutrient loads on coastal and shelf scale systems in Tasmania and Chile, including the restoration of hypoxic systems. Karen has authored 36 peer reviewed journal articles, over 37 reports and 9 book chapters (>1331 citations; Web of Science H-index 19).
Professor Dr Baris Salihoglu
Can digital twins help define a safe operating space for the seas? Transforming the regional seas: digital twins demonstrator. 

Prof. Dr Baris Salihoglu is an oceanographer with over 20 years of experience in modeling ecosystems in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Sea of Marmara, Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and Antarctica. He is the director of the METU Institute of Marine Sciences and the DEKOSIM project establishing a new interdisciplinary centre of excellence in Turkey. This centre aims to be a national and regional leader in marine ecosystem observation and forecasting. In addition to being a partner in many national and international projects, he is the coordinator of EC H2020 Black Sea CONNECT and BRIDGE-BS projects.

​He has more than 40 international articles that have been cited more than 1000 times. His research interests cover various topics, ranging from mathematical modelling of marine ecosystems to descriptive physical oceanography. Increasingly, his work focuses on the effect of environmental and climate change on marine systems and their interactions with the socio-economic systems. He works on assessing ecosystem resilience using a diversity of complementary tools going from statistical analysis, mechanistic modelling, and machine learning. He employs models and artificial intelligence tools together to predict the dynamics of state-response relationships across sea basins to disentangle single stressor effects, as well as identifying the interplay between stressors in Decision Support Tools. 
Dr. Morten D. Skogen
​Bridging the gap: Integrating models and observations for better ecosystem understanding. 

Dr. Morten D. Skogen is a research professor at the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen, Norway, and holds a PhD in numerical mathematics. He has more than 30 years of experience in ecosystem modelling and has the main responsibility for development and maintenance of the NORWECOM.E2E ecosystem model, which integrates an NPZD model with Individual Based Models for key species in the Nordic and Barents seas.

Skogen's research focuses on using ecosystem models to understand the interactions between climate, human activities, and marine ecosystems, as well as the relationships between environment, plankton, and fish. He has also worked with models for eutrophication, contaminants, and ocean acidification.
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In recent years, Skogen has challenged the notion that observations are always truthful and published several papers and given presentations on the topics: Knowledge validation, How data from ecosystem models can be used to validate observations, and Why inclusion of data from ecosystem models can provide better insights than by using observations alone.
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